We have no power on Kenneth Drive. The power outage we experienced yesterday afternoon was very brief, perhaps only 30 seconds (not minutes). However, it must have gone off again in the night because the clock was blinking when I woke at 5:00 this morning. Then the power went out again here at 6:05 am and hasn't come on again as yet.

I shell out about $600 per month for electricity, and this is the service I get? Two power outages in the span of 12 hours, in perfect weather..........and a web site that claims there is no outage. Let's face it, we'd be better off with PG&E.

I thought that this thanksgiving we'll dwell on memories from last year's thanksgiving while watching the frozen turkey. But power is back and we can't wait to thank again for all the givings (electricity being one of them).

This site was updated after the outage. They knew it occurred at 6.40 it took until 8.00 to get a crew on the scene. I know it is a holiday, but how long should it take to get an emergency crew on the scene?

With the momentary outage yesterday and the Midtown outage in the Spring, this is 4 times in a year. I am not happy. All of these occurred in good weather. Does this mean that when the weather gets stormy we can expect many more outages?

I have lived in other States and other countries and losing power was rare to non-existent. In Palo Alto they tend to be a regular occurrance.

Not what I expect from the heart of Silicon Valley.

Many thanks to the emergency crew who fixed the line. Thank you for working on Thanksgiving and hope you get back in time to enjoy time with your families.

Posted by Attitude of Grattitude
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Nov 22, 2012 at 4:02 pm

Can't get over how "entitled" some Palo Altans feel. I read on one of the threads about someone's $600 utility bill and how they felt they deserve better than this. We are so blessed by an abundance of everything in N. California. I am thinking about all the poor folks on the East Coast many who are probably still without power and it makes my possible uncooked turkey look small in comparison. I, too, am grateful for the city workers who came out an fixed the problem so that I can have the wonderful aroma of roasting turkey wafting throughout my house. I am grateful that for the first time in my life I will have my first grandchild in my home for Thanksgiving and will be sitting in a warm house out of harms way. We are truly blessed in this community!

Posted by un-named
a resident of Crescent Park
on Nov 22, 2012 at 8:37 pm

On this day of thanks I am truly shocked over the sense of entitlement some have over the privilege of being able to turn on a switch and get electrons or turn on a faucet and get water. How blessed are we to be able to take this for granted. Try living in, let alone visiting, the majority of the planet where blackouts, brownouts, and NO power are daily commonplace. Secondly, I will take our system any day over PG&E where on time, service, and quality of the deliverable quality are exceptional with our utility in comparison. Wow, I also gotta ask, HOW can one family consume $600 in just electricity without some pretty conspicuous consumption? That's more than 3.8kWh! Let's take a moment to put our 'bubble' lives in perspective with the rest of the world. We should all be proud and grateful for all we have but KNOW that it is privilege with respect to the rest of the world, not a right! Rejoice in what we have!

We had no power from 6:45 to 8:20. Made for a small amount of panic about how we were going to cook our Thanksgiving meal. When it came on, there was a sigh of relief. And gave us a momentary pause to be thankful for what we have.

Posted by Donald
a resident of South of Midtown
on Nov 23, 2012 at 9:53 am

Lit the gas stove with a match for coffee and breakfast, went for a brisk bike ride and the power was on when we returned. Backup plan of BBQing the turkey was not needed. Power in Palo Alto is more reliable than the other places I have lived.

Posted by In need of Coffee
a resident of Palo Verde
on Nov 23, 2012 at 12:48 pm

Interesting comments and I suppose I sounded like one of the whiners.

My thoughts are that we have not had a hurricane. If we had had a hurricane or an earthquake, I would not be whining, I would indeed be thankful and feel fortunate for our safety. I do have sympathy and understanding for those whose lives are still interrupted by Sandy.

But, our weather has been wonderful. It is our infrastructure alone that is probably to blame for yesterday's outage. Our utilities are in a sad state of repair. Power outages in good weather in an affluent region of the world should be rare to non existent. Not twice in two days following an earlier several hours outage in the past spring in good weather.

I have lived in other states and countries and never had the number of outages that I have experienced here regardless of the weather.